Microphone array processing has become an important subject with the advent of low power, high performance mobile devices, such as Bluetooth wireless headsets, in-car speakerphones, smartphones, tablet computers and small-office/home office (SOHO) video conferencing systems through Smart TV initiatives. Some of these devices provide consumers with a rich voice communication experience by combining (through a suitable technique) spatial signals obtained from an array of microphones placed in certain geometric configuration to reduce any ambient noise or interference present and enhance speech quality.
The process of combining the spatial signals is often referred to as “beamforming.” With a knowledge of the microphone geometry, the signals obtained from the array of microphones are combined such that speech coming from a desired direction is preserved, and noise or interference coming from other directions is attenuated.